Here is a familiar scenario: A child is admonished by a parent for not finishing a meal and reminded of the millions of people around the world who are starving. Maybe you have been that parent -- or were once that child.
For the record, the number is 821 million; that is the number of people who go to bed hungry every day. Also for the record, it is not the fault of our children that a third of the food produced globally never even makes it to the table.
No, what we are facing here is a very grown-up problem. Allow me to offer another one: How often do we think about the people -- the farmers -- who work the hardest to put food on our tables? At worst the answer is never; at best, not enough.
The simple reality is every one of us at the end of the food chain needs to shoulder responsibility for the well-being of those who toil at its very start. Are farmers being paid fairly? What is being done to protect them? Why should we expect them to feed us while they live in poverty?
Overarching in all of this -- as we heard during the recent UN Climate Change Conference in Madrid -- is the expectation that in meeting the needs of smallholder farmers, we must concurrently address the climate emergency facing our planet.
The issue surely resonates in Thailand because agriculture is a critical component of the economy, and yet farmers' livelihoods often remain a keen challenge. The sector employs 35% of the country's workforce and agriculture's contribution to GDP is around 12%.
EMPOWERING FARMERS
Thai farmers -- along with their peers around the world -- still struggle with low yields and volatile prices, exacerbated by climate change impacts such as droughts and floods. They also face infrastructure challenges such as access to electricity, irrigation, technology or education. And while policies can be well-informed, farmers also need the know-how to maximise the utility from policies and other support programmes.
The Thai government has taken a strong stance with its Thailand 4.0 development vision. Among its many ambitions is a target to increase the average annual income of farmers seven-fold to 390,000 baht by 2037. Key to this are efforts to promote more multi-stakeholder cooperation and investments, as well as improving livelihoods in a way that is right for people and the planet, including through precision agriculture.
In this respect, Thailand has a sound track record of public-private-people partnerships that have facilitated smallholder innovation to drive sustainability.
This commitment to creating value for all by all has been a long-held belief at Olam International. It was why our company convened the Global Agri-business Alliance and why I have chaired the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) since 2017.
In Thailand, we at Olam have seen firsthand what can be achieved with multi-stakeholder partnerships. Together with the Thai Rice Department and the German development agency GIZ, Olam helped to pilot the world's first fully verified sustainable rice programme with farmers in Ubon Ratchathani, under the Sustainable Rice Platform (SRP).
The success of SRP is crucial if Thailand wants to meet its goal of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions at least 20% by 2030 under the 2016 Paris Agreement on climate change. Rice cultivation accounted for 60% of GHG emissions in the country's agricultural sector as recently as 2014.
CLIMATE-SMART PRACTICES
At the heart of SRP are effective, easily applicable climate-smart practices with a guaranteed market for what the farmers produce. Four years on, more than 4,000 farmers are now receiving more income from higher yields, better cost management and a quality crop with a lighter environmental footprint. This Thai-born and Thai-tested programme has now expanded to Indonesia, India and Vietnam, with an ambition to reach 150,000 farmers by 2023.
A similarly practical and sustainable approach is now being seen in the palm sector, with the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil Independent Smallholder Standard (RSPO ISH). The RSPO is not seeking to burden smallholders with the full weight of certification immediately, which can deter those wary of complexity, but through a simplified, step-by-step approach.
If we are to reimagine global food systems and the future of feeding our world, then we must pay closer attention to the smallholders on whom we rely so much, while marrying this to the global response to the climate crisis.
As a businessman and as a consumer, I recognise my role at both ends of the supply chain.
As the chief executive of a global food and agribusiness, I urge more of my peers in Thailand -- in addition to continuing to drive your farmer programmes -- to also join broader coalitions like the WBCSD, SRP or RSPO. Between us, we have the shared solutions, resources and expertise that can empower farmers. We can and should also scale and apply the model -- as SRP has shown -- to other locations worldwide.
As an individual consumer, our actions can matter to the farmer. The choices we make on what to buy, and how to reward producers who behave responsibly -- in our own interest and that of the planet -- can make a difference.
Maybe it is time to start having this type of conversation at the dinner table with our children.
Sunny Verghese is a co-founder and group CEO of Singapore-based Olam International, one of the world's largest food and agribusiness companies.